Door opening means



INVENTOR. SCHONITZ E R RUDOLPH l.

Oct. 29, 1940. R. l. scHoNrrzER DOOR OPENING MEANS Filed "Feb, 5, 1940 Fla?,

F reis Patented Oct. 29,1940 i I I y l noon oPENmG MEANS q Rudolph 1. sehonitzyer, shaker Heights, omo Application February 5, 1940, Serial'No, 317,296 -s claims. (ci. ils-a) This invention `relates to means for automatimal at all times tot said curved portion, and concally effecting the movement of a hinged door, versely, is-such that the manual force applied by when closed and unlatched, to any desired open said curved portion to said plunger, during closing position, and' for yieldingly resisting the closing movement of said door (and which effects the UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

5 of said door from the open position to'which it is loading" of said expansible means), is substanf V automatically movable. More particularly, the `tially normal at all times to the path of recipro* present invention .relates to means for autocation of said plunger. As a result, the automatic matically opening, and yieldingly resisting the opening of said door and the loading of said exclosing of a door which is so hinged on its suppansible means are accomplished in an exceedporting structure that the hinge edge wall of said `ingly effective vand satisfactory manner., as will 10 door and the hinge edge wall of the supporting be readily understood. structure therefor are in oppositely positioned 0r f If desired, said curved portion may be simply generally abutting relationship when said door and economically formed as a depression in or is in its closed position, such as the door of an as a projection. of the hinge edge Wall of the automobile or the like, for example. structure by which it is carried, as here shown. l5

Briefly stated, the means here involved, which, Moreover, the length or transverse extent of for convenience, is hereinafter referred to simply said curved portion (which is either concave or as door opening means, comprises a' reciprocable vconvex in cross section, as heretofore pointed vplunger carried by either' the door to be autoout) may be substantially equal, if desired and matically opened or its supporting structure, a as` here shown, to thelwidth of the hinge edge 20 curved portion carried by the other'and with wall of the structure by which it is carried, and which curved portion said plunger has cooperthe path of reciprocation of the plunger which ative engagement, (said curved portion being of has Vcooperative engagement with said curved concave form in cross-section if said plunger is portion may be such that when the door structure carried by said supporting structure and being of is in its closed position, said plunger engages said 25 convex form in cross-section if said `plunger-is curved portion` toward one end thereof. Howcarried by said door), and expansible means efever, it obviously is not necessary, in order tov fective upon said plunger for bringing about such effect the automatic movement of a door struccooperative engagement. As will hereinafter ture to its `fully open position, that the length more fully appear, the effect of the cooperative or transverse extent of said curved portion be 30 engagement of said plunger and said curved porsubstantially equal to the width of the hinge edge tion is (1) the automatic movement of said door, wall ofthe structure by which said curved porwhen closed and unlatched, to any desired open tion is carried, as will be readily understood. position, either a partially open position of said Another feature of the two door opening means door or the fully open position thereof, and (2) here illustrated is that the plunger of each such 35 the production of a yieldable resistance to closmeans'is a. part of a self-contained plunger unit, ing movement of said door from the open posiwhich may be easily and conveniently secured to tion to which it is automatically movable, which either the door to be automatically opened 0r enables said door to be releasably retained in its the supporting structure therefor, as will herein- 40 fully open position, if that is the position to after appear. l y 40 which it is automatically movable,j or in a par- Other features of -the here illustrated door tially open position, if that is the position to opening means are their structural simplicity; which said door is automatically movable and their strong and rugged character, which enables if said door, like most present-day automobile them to have an exceedingly long life in service,

4.5 doors, has a normal tendency to close. without requiring attention from time to time;

Preferably and as here shown, the plunger of and the efficiency with which they perform their the present door opening means comprises or door opening function and their function of includes a roller or the like for. desirable rolling yieldingly resisting door closing movement. engagement with the curved portion withwhich lFurther features of door opening means emit cooperates for door opening and door retainbodying the present invention are in part ob- 50 ing purposes. Moreover, the curvature (concavivious `and in part will appear from the following ty or convexity) of said curved portion is such description of two such means as used with autothat the door opening force automatically applied mobile doors, reference being had to the accomthereto by said plunger, under the influence of the panying drawing, in which expansible means therefor, is substantially nor- Fig. 1 is an outside elevation of a portion of a 6l! left front automobile door and an adjacent portion of the automobile body on which said door is hinged, parts of the outer side walls of said door and body portions being broken away to expose the door opening means associated therewith, said door being in its closed position; Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through said door and body'portions, the view 'being on the line 2-2, Figs. 1 and 3, and three positions which said door occupies during fthe movement thereof between its closed position and lts fully open position (the position'to which said door is here 'automatically movable) being indicated in dotted lines.; Fig. 3 is an Voutside elevation of, said door and body portions, as

viewed from the line 3-3, Fig. 2, with parts of the outer sidewalls thereof broken away to expose said door opening means; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the self-contained plunger unit of said door opening means, as viewed from the line #-4, Fig. 2, parts of said` plunger unit being broken away and in section; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of said plunger unit, on the line 5-5, Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a modified form of door opening means embodying the present invention, the plunger unit of said means being carried by the automobile door, rather than'abythe automobile body portion on which said door is hinged.

Before the present invention is described in detail, it is to be understood that such invention is not limited to the details of construction or the specific arrangement of parts herein illustrated .or described, as the invention obviouslyy may take other forms. It also is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein employed is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Although door opening means embodying the presentinvention are applicable for use with any hinged doors having their hinge edge walls oppositely positioned or in generally abutting relationship `with respect to the hingej edge walls of their supporting structures (the structures on which said doors are hinged), said door opening ,means are particularly useful, as heretofore pointed out, with the doors of automobiles or the like, and for purposes of illustration and not of limitation, the use of two such door opening means with present-day automobile doors is here shown and described.

Referring first to Figs 1 to 5 inclusive, wherein is illustrated one form of door opening means embodying the present invention, the reference numeral I designates a portion of a left front automobile door, said door having its transverse front edge wall 2 suitably hinged, as is usual, on the transverse rear edge wall 3 of that portion of the automobile body shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusiveand designated generally by the reference numeral 4, a pair of concealed hinges 6 being used for that purpose and the hinge axis 6 of said door being indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. As best shown in Fig. 2, when the door I is in its closed position, the door and body edge walls 2 and 3 (whichedge walls are hereinafter termed hinge edge walls") are in oppositely positioned or generally abutting relationship, -by which is meant that such hinge edge walls are oppositely positioned or disposed and either in actual contact or, as here shown, relatively close to each other. Although any suitable means may be utilized for releasably retaining the door I in its closed position and for actuating said retaining means to release said door for opening movement, (said dangerous '(in that many severe injuries have been caused by them) but also, said projecting handles seriously interfere with the streamlining effects now desired for automobile bodies. Inasmuch as the door opening means here involved automatically effect, upon the unlatching of the doors with which they are used, the movement ol said doors to any desired open positions, including their fully open positions, the use for such doors of the present-day handles for door opening purposes is wholly unnecessary. As a result, simple push-buttons or vthe like, desirable from many standpoints, may be used with the latch means' of a door with which is used a door opening means embodying the present invention.

The latch means, therefore, of the automobile door I may be, and preferably is, of .the type in whichpush-buttons or the like are utilized for effecting the release' actuation of said latch means. For example, said latch means may be of the form disclosed in my copending application for Door opening devices, filed August 2l,

1939, Serial-No. 291,240, or in other words, latch means embodying the invention of my` prior Patent No. 2,094,413 for Door control mechanism, to which patent reference may be had, if desired. However, inasmuch as the latch means of the door I forms no part of the present invention, no., latch means for such door is here shown or described.

As will hereinafter more fully appear, each of the ,here illustrated door opening means is of simple and inexpensive character and capable of being located between the general planes of the inner and outer side walls of an automobile door and the general planes of the inner and outer side walls of that portion of the automobile body on which said door is hinged, there being (see Figs. 2 and 6) more or less alignment oi the outer-side wall of such a door and the outer side wall of such a body portion and more or less alignment of the inner side wall of such a door and the inner side wall of such abody portion, when said door is in its closed position.

As a result, each of the door opening means here illustrated not only is eminently satisfactory from structural and functional standpoints but also, is commercially practical for a present- -day automobile door, as such means is concealed from view when said door is in its closed position and its location,`r and the extent of its exposure even when said door is in its fully open position, are such as to cause said means to be entirely unobjectionable.

Although door opening means embodying the present invention may take various forms, the two door opening means here shown, for purposes of illustration, each comprises a simple and inexpensive self-contained plunger unit carried by either the automobile door to be automatically opened or the automobile body portion on which said door is hinged, and an economically formed curved portion carried by the other and with which curved portion the plunger of said unit has cooperative engagement for door opening and door retaining purposes, as will hereinafter appear. If saidy plunger unit is carried by the automobile body portion, asin that embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the curved portion carried by the auA tomobile door will be of concave form in crosssection, as best shown in Fig. 2, and if said plunger unit is carried by the automobile door, as in that embodiment pf the present invention illustrated in Fig. 6, the curved portion carried by the automobile body portion will be oi convex form in crossV section, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. i

As best shown in Fig. 2, the self-contained l;

plunger unit I of the door opening means of Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive is secured to the automobile body portion 4 vadjacent its hinge edge wall 3 and between the general planes ciA its inner and outer side walls 8 and .3, the general plane of each such side wall, as that term is here used, being the plane which not only includes such sidewall but which also extends therebeyond. The concave portion I0 of the door I is located between the general planes of its -inner and outer side walls II and I2, and although such .concave portionmay be in the form of an attachment for said door and suitably secured thereto, such as to the hinge edge wall 2 thereof, the concave portion I0 here shown is a simple depression oi said door hinge edge wall.

As clearly indicated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the plunger unit 'I comprises simple and inexpensive parts capable of being easily and conveniently assembled as a unit, said parts being a bracket, a reciprocable plunger, and expansible means in the form of a coiled compression spring for maintaining the head of said plunger in cooperative engagement with the concave door portion I0. I

As here shown, the, bracket of said plunger unit comprises two like members, each being in the form of a simple sheet metalstamping and .each having a semi-cylindrical hollow housing por-k tion I3, an attaching flange portion I4, and a connecting web portion I5. In its assembled form, said bracket has its two housing portions in abutting relationship, its two web portions in like relationship, and its two ilange portions in diverging relationship, said ilange portions being here screwed or otherwise suitably secured to the hinge edge wall 3 of the automobilebody portion 4. As clearly shown in Fig. 5, the two housing portions I3 of said bracket together form a tubular housing, within which are mounted, as will hereinafter appear, the aforesaid plunger and the coiled compression spring therefor, the front end of said housing being closed and the rear end thereof being open. As best shown in Fig. 2, the longitudinal axis of said housing is generally diagonal with respect to the inner and outer side walls 8 and 9 of the automobilebody portion 4, and the open rear end of said housing terminates adjacent the outer 1ongitudinal edge portion of the hinge edgewall 3 of said body portion, there being a suitable opening I6 in such hinge edge wall portion for the receptionof the plunger which is slidably mounted in said housing. Although the length of said housing may be varied, as desired, the length of the present housing is such that asuitable opening I'I is necessary, for the reception of the front end portion oi said housing, in the transverse wall I8 of the sheet metal reinforcement pillar I9 with which the automobile body portion 4 is here provided.

rear end closed, as best shown in Fig. 2. If de- 5 sind; the closed rear end ,of said plunger tube inay be utilized as the head of theplunger and ii-it is, it preferably will beV ofmore or less rounded form or be otherwise suitably 'shaped for ,its cooperative engagementwitli the concave 10 door portion I0. -asl will be readily understood. As here shown, however. the head of the l.present plunger is a roller 2i, which enables said plunger to have desirable rolling engagement with thel concave door portion I0 during opening and clos- 15 ing movement of the door I, said roller being Journalled, as here shown, on a rivet 22 or the like which is carried by a pair of years 23 suitably secured to the closed rear end oi' the plunger tube 2li, 20

As best shown in Fig. 2, the coiled compression spring 28 of said plunger unit is located within the tubular bracket housing, and extends into the plunger tube 20 slidably mounted in salitil housing, the front end of said spring being 1h25 engagement with the closed front end of said housing and the rear end of said sprlng'being in engagement with the closed rear end of said the opening of the door i, as will hereinafter l more fully appear.- In order to limit the extent to which the plunger may rearwardly project `from its bracket housing, and thereby, maintain jacent its front end, with 'a lateral lug ze which 40 extends at all times into a longitudinally disposed.` slot 21 of the bracket housing, Ysaid slot of said door being determined by the door check (not shown) with which said door, like all present-day automobile doors, is provided.

For the accomplishment of that result, and to enable the fully open position of thedoor I to correspond to the fully ,open position of an auto- 50 ymobile door which is manually opened, the length or transverse extent of the concave portion I0 of the hinge edgewall 2 of the door I is here such that it.is substantially equal to the width of said hinge edge wall, and the path of recip- 05 rocation of the plunger cooperable therewith is here such that the roller 2i of said plunger engages said concave door portion adjacent the outer end thereof when said dooris in` its closed -eected during the manual closing oi said door through the engagement of the concave portion of said door with` the plunger lroller 2|.- The eiect. of such engagement, as will be readily understood, is the movement of said roller ,and the plunger tube forwardly with 4rrespect to the body bracket-housing, and the consequent com- .pression or loading of the spring which is conilned, as heretofore pointed out, between the front -end of said bracket housing andthe rear end o! said plunger tube. Y

The.compression spring'25 is therefore in condition, when the door is in its closed position, to automatically effect, upon the unlatching oi said door, the movement of said door to itsI fully open position, the expansion force of said spring being. sufilcient for such purpose. Inasmuch as the door is moved by the present door opening means to its fully open position, the plunger roller 2| of such means remains at all times in co,

operative engagement with the concave door' portion |0, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2, wherein three positions of said door, between its closed position and its fully open position, are shown in. dotted lines, the fully open position of said door (a position which also is shown in dotted lines) being indicated by the reference letter A.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the. concavity of the concave door portion l0 is such that the door opening force applied thereto by the plunger roller 2|, under the influence of its compressed or loaded spring 25, is substantially normal at all times to said concave door portiomand as a result, the automatic opening movement of the door I is brought about in a particularly desirablel and effective manner. Conversely. the spring loading force applied to the plunger roller 2| by the concave door portion i0, during manual closing movement of the door is substantially i normal to the path of reciprocation of said roller which it is used is in the open position to which and the plunger tube' 20 by Whichsaid roller is carried, so that said spring is compressed or loaded, during the closing of said door, in a par- -ticularly satisfactory manner, all as will be readily understood.

As heretofore indicated, the door opening` means of Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive not only effects,

upon the unlatching of the door the automatic movement of said door to its fully open position but also, yieldingly resists the closing of As a result, said said door from such position. door is releasably held or retained in its fully open position whenever it is moved thereto, and no separate holding means for said door is therefore necessary.` The door closing resistance provided by said door opening means is due, rof course, to the compression resistance of its coiled compression spring 25, and as willbereadily understood, the spring used in a door opening means embodying the present invention may have any desired compression resistance when the door with it is automatically movable.

By varying the rearward extent of the bracket housing slot 21, or the location in said slot of the plunger lug 26, the extent of the rearward movement of the plunger roller 2 I, under the influence of the compression spring 25, and hence the extent of the automatic opening movement of the door may be controlled andl predetermined, as desired. Thus, the door opening meansof Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive may be readily modied, if desired, to effect the automatic movement of the door upon the unlatching thereof, to any predetermined partially open position, the door being manually movable, of course, to a further open position, yand closing movement -of said, door l from the partially open position to which it is.

ate, for door opening and door retaining purposes,

with a convex portion (convex in cross-section) carried by the supporting structure for said door. Such a door opening means is illustrated in Fig.

6, and to avoid needless duplication, only the manner in which suchdoor opening means differs from the door opening means of Figs. l to 5 inclusive will be referredto.

`In the door opening means of Fig. 6 (Fig. 6 being a view generally corresponding to Fig. 2), the vself-contained plunger unit is carried by a left front automobile door la, the reclprocable plunger roller2|a of said unit having cooperative engagement, for door opening and door re- `Ataining purposes, withl a convex portion |||a (convex in cross-section) `carried by the automobile body portion 4a on which said door is hinged, the hinge axis of said door being indicated by the reference designation 5a. As here shown, the bracket base flanges Ha of said plunger unit are welded or otherwise suitably secured to the inner side wall Ila of said door, with the disposition of the plunger tube 20a (by which the roller 2|a is carried) such that the path of reciprocation of said plunger tube and its roller is more or less diagonal with respect to such door side wall. If desired and` as here "shown, the convex portion lila of the automobile body portion 4a may be a simple projection of its hinge edge wall 3a, and to enable suchbody hinge edge wall and the hinge edge wall 2a of the door la to be relatively close to each other, when said door is in its closed position, the hinge edge wall of said door may be provided, as here shown, with a suitable pocket or cavity 30 for the reception of the convex body projection |0a when said door is closed, all as will be readily understood.

As here shown, the pocket or cavity 30 of said door is formed by Asuitablyydepressing a portion 3| of the hinge edge wall 2a of said door, said depressed portion 3| being provided with a suitable opening |6a for the reception of thc plunger roller 2|a. I

Although the door opening means of Fig. 6 may effect, if desired, and as will be readily understood from the detailed description of the door opening means of Figs. l to 5 inclusive, the automatic movement of the door |a to a partially open position only, said door is here automatically movable, by the door opening means of Fig. 6, toits fully open position, which is the dotted line position of said door indicated by the reference letter B.

Inasmuch as the door opening means of Fig. 6 operates in the same manner as the door opening means of Figs l to 5 inclusive, (the convexlty of the convex portion lila of the door opening means of Fig. 6 being such that the force apjplied thereto by the expansible means of its plunger unit is substantially normal to said con- 1. In combination with a doorfstructure and a supporting structure theetor wherein said door structure is so hinged on vsaid supporting structure that the hinge edge walls of said structures` are .in oppositely positioned relationship when saidV door structure is in its closed position, a reciprocable element carried by one of said strucl tures, and expansible means'constantly urging said reciprocable element toward the hinge edge wall of the other structure, the hinge edge wall of said last mentioned structure being provided between the general planes of the side walls of 4such structure with a transverse portion of curved form in vcross-section for cooperative engagement with said reciprocable element, the force of said expansiblemeans effective upon the hinge edge wall of said last mentioned structure and acting through said reciprocable element being vso sufiicient to automatically bring about the movement of the door structure, if closed= and unlatched, to an open position, the curvature of said curved portion being such thatthe force applied thereto by said expansible means is substantially supporting structure therefor wherein said door structure is so hinged on said supporting structure that the hinge edge walls of said structures are in oppositely positioned relationship when said door structure is in its closed position, a reciprocable element`carried by one of said struc- Y tures, and expansible means constantly urging said reciprocable element toward the hinge edge wall of the other structure, the hinge edge wall of said last mentioned structure having a transverse portion of curved form in cross-section and of substantially -the full width of said hinge edge wall for cooperative engagement at all times with said reciprocable element, the force of said expansible means effective upon, the hinge edge wall of said last mentioned `structure and acting l through said reciprocable element being suiicient to automatically bring about the movement oi' the door structure, if closed and unlatched, to an open position, the curvature of said curved portion being such that the force applied thereto by said expansible means is substantially normal thereto at all times and the path of reciprocation of said element being such that said element engages said curved portion adjacent one end thereof when said door structure is in its closed position. l'

3. In combination with a door structure and a supporting structure therefor wherein said door structure is so hinged o'n said supporting structure that the hinge edge walls of said structures are in oppositely positioned relationship when said door structure is'in its closed position, a reciprocable element carried by one of said structures, and expansible means constantly urging said reciprocable element toward the hinge'edge wall of said other structure, the hinge edge wall of said last mentioned structure being provided between the general 'planes of the. side walls oi' gagement with said reciprocable element, the

force of said expansible means effective'upon said hinge edge wall and acting through said reciprocable element being suicient to automatically `bring about the-movement I Said door structure,'

, ment with said cable element structure is so hinged on said supporting struc-l ture that the hinge are in oppositely edge walls of said structures positioned relationship when said door structure is in its closed position, a reciprocable element carried by one of said structures, and expansible means constantly urging said reciprocable :element toward the hinge edge .wall oi saidv other structure, the hinge edge wall of said last mentioned structure between the general planes of the side walls of such structure having a transverse portion thereof r depressed into concave form in cross-section for cooper- `ative engagement with said reciprocable element, the force of said expansible means eifective upon said hinge -edge ciprocable element being suiiicient to automatically bring about the movement of said door structure, i1' closed and unlatched, to an open position, the concavity of said concave portion being such that the force applied thereto by said expansible means is substantially normal thereto at all times.

5. Inl combination with a door structure and a supporting structure therefor wherein said door structure is so hinged on said supporting strucvture that the hinge edge walls of said structures are in oppositely positioned relationship when said door structure is in its closed position, a reciprocable element carried by one of said structures, and expansible means constantly urging said reciprocable element toward the hinge. edge :wall of said other structure, the hinge edge wall of said last mentioned structure4 being provided` between the general planes oi the side walls of such structure with a transverse portion of convex form in cross-section for cooperative engage- 'reciprocable element, the force of said expansible means eilective upon such hinge edge wall andacting through said reciprobeing sumcient to automatically bring about the movement of the door structure, if closed and unlatched, to an open position, the convexity of said convex` portion being such that the force applied thereto by said expansible means is substantially normal thereto at all times.

6. In combination with t a door structure and a supporting structure thereforwherein said door structure is so hinged on said supporting structure that the hinge edge walls of said structures are in oppositely positioned relationship when wall and acting through saidresaid door structure is in its closed position, a rethe movement of the door structure, if closed and unlatched, to an open position, the convexty of said convex portion being such-that the force applied thereto by said expansible means is substantially normal thereto at all times. 7. In combination with a door structure and a supporting structure therefor wherein said door structure is so hinged on said supporting structure that the hinge edge walls; of said structures are in oppositely positioned relationship when said door structure is in its closed position, a re ciprocable element carried by one of said structures, and expansible means constantly urging said reciprocableeiement toward the hinge edge wall of said other structure, the hinge edge wall of said last mentioned structure being provided between the general planes ofthe side walls of such structure with a transverse portion vof convex form in cross-section for cooperative engagement with said reciprocable element, the force of by said expansible means is substantially normal thereto at all times.

8. In combination with a door structure and a.

supporting structure therefor wherein said door structure is so hinged on said supporting structure that the hinge edge walls of said structures are in oppositely positioned vrelationship when said door structure is in its closedposition. a rei ciprocable element carried 4by one of said structures,4 and expansible means constantly urging said reciprocable element toward the hinge edge wall o! the other structure, the hinge edge wall of said last mentioned structure having a transverse portion of concave form in cross-section and of substantially the full width of said hinge edge wall for cooperative engagement at all times with said reciprocable element, the force of said expansible Ameans effective upon the hinge edge wall of said last mentionedstructure and acting through'said reciprocable element being sufficient to automatically bring about the movement oi' the door structure, if closed and unlatched, to an open' position, the concavity of said concave portion being such that the force applied thereto by said expansible means is substantially normal thereto at all times and the path oi' reciprocaticn oi' said element being such that said element engages said.

concave portion adjacent one end thereof when said door structure is in its closed position. v

RUDOLPH I. SCHONITZER. 

